Bar and plate or plate and frame heat exchangers are most commonly used in industry for prototype applications or for low volume production and high model mix applications. For these types of applications it is desirable to keep production and manufacturing costs to a minimum, especially while allowing for flexibility in design without corresponding re-investment in expensive tooling. Traditional bar and plate or plate and frame style heat exchangers allow design flexibility and typically require minimal tooling costs, which is desirable given their application. However, bar and plate or plate and frame style heat exchangers are often labour intensive to build/manufacture, and may require numerous bar or frame components that are relatively expensive in material cost, and that may be relatively complex to assemble.
There is a continual need to reduce costs associated with the design and manufacture of this type of plate-type heat exchangers as well as to reduce the labour intensity and assembly complexity often required for their manufacture.
Accordingly, there is an on-going need to maintain or increase flexibility in plate type heat exchanger designs, while reducing or avoiding tooling costs, reduce the overall number of components and associated material costs, and to provide simpler and more robust assembly methods.